"I will, I may not have much skill, but I always keep my word," Xiao Man replied resolutely.
"Then do you know where to find me?" Rebirth asked, staring into Xiao Man's eyes. He had never revealed his identity, so naturally, Xiao Man had no way of knowing who he was. Cangxuan Continent was vast, and finding someone was not easy.
"Fengling City, the Jin family."
Rebirth's eyes widened in disbelief. "You... how did you know?"
"Guessing. It seems I guessed right... cough cough..." Xiao Man suddenly began to cough, prompting her to pull her cloak tighter. The white fox fur of the cloak made her small, palm-sized face appear even more pale, as if she would collapse at the slightest breeze.
"Are you alright?"
Xiao Man waved her hand, her palm placed over her chest, and calmed her cough before continuing, "Go about your business with peace of mind, and scout the way for me. I am looking for someone, a man about seven feet tall, wielding a jet-black longsword."
"Is this the enemy you spoke of?"
"Yes and no." Xiao Man produced two portraits and handed them to Rebirth. "The man with the black longsword abducted my mother. As for the other, his name is Feng Moran. This person is cunning and extremely deceitful. If you encounter him, do not approach rashly. Notify me as soon as possible."
"As you command."
After seeing Rebirth off, only Du Niangzi remained by Xiao Man's side.
Du Niangzi had apprenticed herself to Zhai Ge.
Zhai Ge was extremely indulgent of his disciples. Normally, he would not be too harsh even if his several disciples were lazy. However, ever since he accepted Du Niangzi as his disciple, his few good-for-nothing disciples had, as if by magic, changed their ways, spending all day in the alchemy room.
At first, Zhai Ge was quite pleased, thinking that these brats had finally decided to improve. But when he discovered that the purpose of his good-for-nothing disciples' punctual visits to the alchemy room was to sneak glances at their new junior sister, he felt a surge of blood lodge in his throat, unable to be swallowed or spat out. Fortunately, he was a man who could take things in stride; regardless of his disciples' motives, as long as they were willing to work hard, it was ultimately a good thing.
As Xiao Man had not yet recovered physically and could not cultivate, she spent her days immersed in the library. The library of Baiyao Hall contained prescriptions, pill formulas, and books on medicinal and poisonous herbs, with a few martial arts techniques and cultivation methods interspersed.
Because Baiyao Hall was devoted to alchemy and neglected cultivation, coupled with their frequent consumption of pills, their accumulated cultivation had an unstable foundation. When competing with cultivators of the same rank, they always fell short. The disciples of Baiyao Hall did not get angry about this. However, if anyone dared to bully a disciple of Baiyao Hall, these broad-minded disciples would instantly transform, becoming as if a different person, determined to fight to the bitter end.
"Junior Brother Xiao, here to read again?" Kong Qing greeted with a smile. "Is your body feeling better?"
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Kong Qing. I am much better. Are you also here to read?" Xiao Man quickly returned the greeting.
Kong Qing nodded, holding a copy of the Qianjin Fang Lu. "I've been failing in my alchemy these past two days, producing only bad pills. I've checked for a long time but couldn't find the problem, so I came to look through the Qianjin Fang Lu."
"What pill are you refining, Senior Brother?"
"Heqi Pill." Kong Qing handed the turned-to page of the prescription to Xiao Man. "I strictly followed the methods and steps written in the prescription, but for some reason, the Heqi Pills I refined all turned into bad pills in the end."
Xiao Man carefully read through the prescription and pointed to two ingredients. "The medicinal properties of these two herbs are contradictory. Adding them at the same time will cause a very intense reaction. Can you process these two herbs separately, and then change the order of addition? Perhaps the result will be different."
Kong Qing thoughtfully considered Xiao Man's words. After a moment, he exclaimed joyfully, "It might work! I'll go back and try it. Thank you, Junior Brother Xiao."
Kong Qing left in a hurry. Xiao Man returned the Qianjin Fang Lu to the bookshelf and picked up another book. She read very quickly and had a photographic memory. During this time, she had almost finished reading all the books in the library.
The first floor contained basic alchemy knowledge. The books on the second floor were higher-grade pill formulas and some martial arts techniques. In other sects, martial arts techniques might be the most important items, kept well-guarded. However, in Baiyao Hall, martial arts techniques were less valuable than a pill recipe. The disciples of Baiyao Hall were far more interested in alchemy than in martial arts.
Xiao Man picked up a martial arts technique book, quickly flipped through it, and set it aside. She then took out another one. She flipped through all the martial arts techniques on the second floor but did not find any she liked. She immediately turned and went up to the third floor.
Normally, few people came to the third floor. Apart from the disciples who cleaned the library, almost no one ventured onto the third floor because it housed incomplete pill formulas. Unless one was an extremely high-level alchemist, these incomplete formulas would be useless. Furthermore, the medicinal ingredients for these incomplete formulas were very rare and difficult to find, which was why those advanced pill formulas ended up gathering dust.
Xiao Man, however, was very interested in these incomplete pill formulas. She had previously obtained an incomplete pill formula from Yan Yan. Since she had not yet learned alchemy, she had kept that formula in her storage bag.
Xiao Man nestled in a corner on the third floor, poring over the obscure ancient texts, trying to decipher their meanings. She was engrossed until dark. Xiao Man then stretched lazily, preparing to return to Jun Fei'er's Danling Courtyard.
Who knew that as she stretched, her hand brushed against a nearby bookshelf, and a sheepskin book fell from it. The book was covered in a thick layer of dust.
Xiao Man picked up the book and blew off the dust from the cover. The characters on the book were already somewhat yellowed, indicating its ancient age. The cover read "Du Jing" (Poison Scripture).
"Baiyao Hall has always disdained the use of poison. How could there be such a book?" Xiao Man curiously opened the book and saw that it stated: "All the world's miraculous poisons originate from the Qin family."
Xiao Man's interest was immediately piqued. This Qin family should be the Qin family from the former Six Great Families, which was also her maternal clan.
Xiao Man flipped through the book. Indeed, the Du Jing contained detailed records of dozens of potent poisons, all originating from the Qin family. Because these poisons were too potent, their circulation was later prohibited. However, Xiao Man was extremely interested in making poisons, as using poison was a means of survival when encountering someone far more powerful than oneself.
Xiao Man flipped through the pages one by one, unaware of the passage of time. The Du Jing primarily recorded the world's miraculous poisons, but no matter how potent a poison was, it could not compare to the Qin family's Myriad Poison Golden Body.
Xiao Man pouted. The Myriad Poison Golden Body, to put it nicely, meant immunity to all poisons; to put it crudely, it meant being a walking poison. Her blood was poisonous to ordinary people; she was well aware of this.